2merkato

Ethiopia signed an agreement to cooperate in air services with Singapore last week according to the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority.

The Air Services Agreement will enable airlines from both countries to operate specified numbers of cargo and passenger flights between Ethiopia and Singapore as well as to other countries.

The agreement was signed by Getachew Mengeste, Ethiopian State Minister for Transport and Josephine Teo, State Minister for Finance and Transport, Singapore.

A delegation of senior executives from Airbus is expected to visit Ethiopia next week. The team from the European consortium will be lead by Francois Cognard, Vice President for Sales, Middle East and North Africa.

The Airbus team will hold a press conference presenting the company’s latest Global Market Outlook for the East African airline industry and providing an update on its aircraft programs, including the A350XWB.

The Airbus marketing team is promoting the long-range A330 aircraft to Ethiopian Airlines which has already placed an order for 12 Airbus A350XWB aircraft.

Ethiopia has secured 133.7 million USD from the export of horticultural crops in the last seven months, the Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency (EHDA) said.
Agency Director General Haileselassie Tekie said that the country earned the foreign currency from the export of 1.1 billion flower stems and 72.8 thousand tons of fruits, vegetables and herbs in the last seven months (From July 2011-Jan. 2012).

More than 107.5 million USD was obtained from the export of flowers to the international market, while the balance was secured from the sale of fruits, vegetables and herbs.  

The foreign currency the country earned from the sector in the stated period has increased by 22.7 millions USD in revenue compared to last year same period.
The Netherlands, Germany, England, Belgium, Russia, Japan and Middle East counties are among the major recipients of the products.

The demand for the horticultural products’ of Ethiopia is very high and thus the Agency is doing market promotion and diversification activities.   

Incentives and the necessary support are being provided by the government of Ethiopia, the number of foreign and local investors engaged in the sector is on the increase, the Director General said.

Ethiopia has recently started to export organic banana to Saudi Arabia market, which the project is supported by Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), is an important step to ensure the growth of horticulture industry in the country.

More than 105 horticulture producer and exporters companies are operating in the country, of which over 70 per cent of them are foreign and joint venture, it was learnt.

Source: This news article was prepared and sent to 2merkato.com by Mekonnen Hailu, Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency (EHDA)'s senior communication expert.

The National Accreditation Office of Ethiopia is ready to raise awareness in the agricultural, health and industrial sectors according to Araya Fesseha Director General of the ENAO.

Accreditation is a new concept in Ethiopia and requires aggressive promotion to raise awareness amongst stakeholders he said.

The accreditation office has conducted training events in Addis Ababa, and the Amahra and Tigray regional states said Araya. Further training will be done in Dire Dawa, Oromia, and the South regional state.